Category: BRIDGE

Last month, Lightful hosted the ‘Strengthening Ukrainian NGOs’ webinar which brought together over 50 passionate global funders and Ukrainian nonprofit leaders in a powerful conversation about the challenges and resilience of Ukrainian civil society as well as how funders can help.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of Lightful’s recent Building Resilience in Digital Growth and Engagement (BRIDGE) programme - in partnership with the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and The Gates Foundation. This new cohort marks a pivotal moment in Lightful’s journey, as it is the first time we are working exclusively with Midwives’ Associations (MAs) from across Africa. This programme, the first of two, aims to work with them to strengthen their digital resilience, enabling over 15 associations from across Africa to amplify their voices online, advocate for midwifery as an essential part of healthcare, and highlight the vital role midwives play in sexual and reproductive health for women and girls.

Bolton is a vibrant town, with strong communities and a well-loved football club whose charity, Bolton Wanderers in the Community, has been supporting residents of Bolton for over 30 years. Communities in Bolton, however, face multiple challenges, including high levels of social deprivation. There are 1,672 Voluntary, Charity and Social Enterprises (VCSEs) in the area who exist to support the people of Bolton, but they themselves, in the years following a pandemic that drove interaction online, can find it difficult to find and connect to those who need them. Bolton CVS, an infrastructure organisation dedicated to supporting charities in Bolton, identified a critical need to support them with digital capacity building so that these communities could reconnect, and Bolton's VCSEs could reach the people they were founded to serve.

Today, Lightful is releasing our Building Resilience Impact Report. As the world around us continues to change at a rapid pace, we have been working to better meet the needs of nonprofits, so that we can all meet the needs of the current moment. I’m so grateful to my colleagues and all our stakeholders who have contributed towards making publishing this important report a reality.

“Women and girls in Africa and the Caribbean are leading climate justice movements, but there aren’t many funders who will give money to young, emerging organisations and movements like these—who might not be formally registered or have long track records of doing this work. That’s why I’m focused on shifting money, power, and other non-financial resources to feminist climate activists so they can build their agency, control their narratives, and scale up their actions. It means meeting groups where they are while providing the resources for them to get to where they need to be to have the greatest impact.” Ayesha Constable, Technical Director for Climate Justice at Global Fund for Women

Happy World Engineering Day! Today Lightful is celebrating the incredible innovations and solutions that engineers achieve, making the world a better place. From addressing climate change through to the design of new healthcare tools, engineering is at the heart of societal change.

As the world tackles some of society’s greatest challenges, from climate crisis to global health, the collective effort to bridge gender gaps in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) becomes ever more crucial. The global community recently marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science which celebrates the invaluable contributions of women and girls to the economic development of the world.

In an era where climate change is one of the greatest challenges to our planet, the voices of environmental nonprofits need to be amplified louder than ever. Lightful believes in the power of digital to elevate climate justice, and we believe that every organisation deserves the skills, tools, and confidence to fully leverage digital to enhance their mission.

The persistent gender gap in digital access and skills is preventing women and young girls from unlocking technology’s full potential. Gender justice and reproductive rights organisations have been battling with a huge swell of demand for services, yet they face a severe lack of funding, resources, and digital training to strengthen their organisation and keep up with other sectors.

At Lightful we are on a mission to help nonprofits become better storytellers, communicators and fundraisers, and we believe in the transformative power of digital to help them do this. With more and more individuals turning to online platforms to connect with one another, campaign, share stories, and support the causes they care about, it’s crucial that nonprofits have a strong digital presence as a powerful tool to build trust with their audiences.

[PRESS RELEASE] The Bolton Digital Skills programme, a new initiative driven by a partnership between Bolton Wanderers in the Community, Bolton CVS, and Lightful, has celebrated its successful completion. Over the course of six months, this collaborative effort has equipped 50 local charities with the confidence and digital skills necessary to raise even more funds to support the local community.

Environmental organisations around the world are working hard to tackle climate change, often with limited resources. What’s the role of digital communications in this battle and what support do they need?

We talked to Chakara Wheeler from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint to find out more about her work and her experience being part of the BRIDGE programme.

We talked to the Hope and Dreams Initiative, an organisation with a mission to educate, empower and enable young people from under-served communities in Nigeria to find out more about their work and how they benefit from our BRIDGE programme.

On 28th May individuals, organisations and entire communities came together to celebrate Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day) - a global campaign to raise awareness of the importance of menstrual health and hygiene for women, girls, and all people who menstruate around the world - which was initiated by our partner WASH United.

111 diverse nonprofits from 44 countries took part in Lightful’s free Digital Bootcamp to create their first digital strategy - we’re so excited to share with you what they learned and free resources for your charity.

We’re only a few weeks away from Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day) on the 28th of May and it’s time to start planning your content for the big day.

We’re excited to launch a new BRIDGE cohort to support organizations working in menstrual health and hygiene (MHH).

We’re just a week away from International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate women’s achievement, raise awareness against bias, and take action for equality.

Millions of people came together last week for GivingTuesday 2021. As the biggest day of giving, it’s the perfect time to celebrate generosity, kindness, and inspiring storytelling.

Nonprofits hold some of the world’s most powerful stories. Each individual, community, and environment that they protect and serve, has their own story to tell and it is this rich reserve of narratives that can inspire, motivate and move the wider public.

Despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing remains the same, people are still looking for ways to connect and support the causes they care about. Events are a great way to bring people together through shared experiences and interests, creating a sense of community for participants, and virtual events have allowed this to continue despite lockdown restrictions.

The COVID pandemic has created an urgent need for nonprofits to rapidly scale up digital advocacy and digital fundraising. Organisations need to be reaching their supporters where they are, and in 2021… they are online. A rapidly changing world post-pandemic demands new approaches to engaging the public and winning their support.

Last year the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges across many sectors, but especially for nonprofits, many of which were previously reliant upon in-person events and more traditional means of fundraising. At Lightful, we’ve been working with charities to understand how the pandemic has affected the sector and what’s become evident is that digital fundraising skills are vital in adapting to the ‘new normal’ that has emerged following the pandemic.

At the start of 2020, we were set to deliver our second BRIDGE programme in partnership with GlobalGiving funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but as the global pandemic quickly took hold we knew we had to pivot to a COVID-response programme to help nonprofits through this challenging period.

During uncertain times, charities are looking for new ways to survive and provide crucial services to their beneficiaries.

It’s more important than ever to be more digital. We’re also aware though that many organisations do not have the capacity or the resources to improve their digital skills. Small charities may still be at the very beginning of their digital journey and it’s vital to help them as much as possible.

Earlier this month we’ve hosted the first masterclass for our new BRIDGE cohort. Participating charities all over the world joined us to talk about digital fundraising in crisis and how to launch a successful campaign during COVID-19.

There is a growing need to be more digital to support your organisation. As charities move their services online to survive, it is imperative to build your team’s digital skills.

Last week we’ve hosted the first digital drop-in session for our new BRIDGE cohort. Participating charities all over the world joined us to discuss their internal and external communications during coronavirus and the challenges they are facing.